Midwinter Rites of the Cayuga Long House / Frank G. Speck.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Speck, Frank G., Author.

Series:

Anniversary Collection

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cayuga Indians--Religion.

Cayuga Indians.

Cayuga Indians--Rites and ceremonies.

Physical Description:

1 online resource : 16 illus.

Edition:

Reprint 2016

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, [2017]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

During his last years ethnohistorian Frank G. Speck turned to the study of Iroquois ceremonialism. This 1950 book investigates the religious rites of the Cayuga tribe, one of six in the Iroquois confederation that occupied upstate New York until the American Revolution. In the 1930s and the 1940s Frank Speck observed the Midwinter Ceremony, the Cayuga thanksgiving for the blessings of life and health, performed in long houses on the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario. Collaborating with Alexander General (Deskáheh), the noted Cayuga chief, Speck describes vividly the rites and dances giving thanks to all spiritual entities. Of special interest are the medicine societies that not only prescribed herbs but used powerfully evocative masks in treating the underlying causes of sickness.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

LIST OF PLATES

LIST OF TABLES

INTRODUCTION

PHONETIC NOTE

I. THE SOUR SPRINGS LONG HOUSE

II. COMPLEMENTARY DUAL FUNCTIONING OF THE MOIETIES AND SEX DIVISIONS IN CAYUGA CEREMONIAL-SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

III CONTROLLING SPIRIT FORCES

IV THE ANNUAL CEREMONIAL CYCLE

V. CEREMONIAL OFFICIARIES, FOODS, INSTRUMENTS, AND COSTUMES

VI. TIMING AND PREPARATORY RITES OF THE MIDWINTER CEREMONY

VII. THE MEDICINE SOCIETIES

VIII. THE RESTRICTED MEDICINE SOCIETIES AND THEIR RITES

IX. THE UNRESTRICTED SOCIETIES; CURING RITES AND DANCES

X. THE FOUR SACRED CEREMONIAL RITES

XI. WORSHIP RITES ADDRESSED TO FOOD SPIRITS

XII. SOCIAL DANCES

XIII. FAMILY CONDOLENCE RITE OF THE SOUR SPRINGS BAND

FINAL THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS IN RETROSPECT

APPENDIX I

APPENDIX II

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

PLATES

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 26. Aug 2020)

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9781512818796

1512818798

OCLC:

979954735